Planning to move from Florida to California. What should I do about education?

Howdy, I have a few questions. I live in Tampa, Florida currently but I've been planning on moving to San francisco, CA for quite some time now. I'm in college currently working to get my AA degree and I just started taking EMT classes before I would go to the fire college in Ocala. However, I'm starting to wonder if I would need to repeat classes in California. For example, let's say I stick in Florida to finish my EMT and Firefighter classes before moving to California. Would I have to repeat some of those classes/take a refresher course when I move to San francisco? Or would my best option be to move to California first and just take all the EMT and Fire classes from the beginning there since I hardly started them here in Florida? I'm really leaning towards the latter because I have a steady job working full time now and I could save up a bunch of money before the big move.

You are moving from a hard state to get hired on to a maybe harder state to get hired in?

Reciprocity
At this time, SFT does not offer reciprocity for certifications, including IFSAC and Pro Board that were received in another state. In order to apply for SFT certification in California, you must meet all of the requirements listed in the SFT Procedures Manual click here (or refer to pg. 94 SFT Procedures Manual -ver. 2008). We recommend you contact the fire department requiring the certification to determine if they will accept your alternative certificates.

California does their own thing when it comes to fire certs. I've heard you can gain reciprocity but it's a giant pain in the a** from what I hear. And this isn't something I know to be true. As for the EMT, as long as you end up with your NREMT after your class it's just money and paperwork to get your EMS reciprocity. I will say that it does cost about $250 once you've paid the county, state and then paid for the live scan fingerprinting. Good luck with it, but I definitely would hold off on your fire stuff until you are living in Cali (unless you enjoy doing things twice)

California does their own thing when it comes to fire certs. I've heard you can gain reciprocity but it's a giant pain in the a** from what I hear. And this isn't something I know to be true. As for the EMT, as long as you end up with your NREMT after your class it's just money and paperwork to get your EMS reciprocity. I will say that it does cost about $250 once you've paid the county, state and then paid for the live scan fingerprinting. Good luck with it, but I definitely would hold off on your fire stuff until you are living in Cali (unless you enjoy doing things twice)

I would rather move first, get settled, and then start firefighting education.

I live and work in California. You would be wise to wait here to enroll in your fire science courses. Your AS degree is transferable, but your fire courses are not. You can, however, take online fire science courses based in California that will transfer. Check out Alan Hancock college in Santa Maria.